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Time-management and prioritisation
Stephen Griffin
Academic Skills Centre
What is time-management?
• Time-management is about organising competing priorities in limited time
• It often has very little to do with time
• It is about organising your life around things you designate as important, confronting more emotional issues like fear, inadequacy and other people’s demands
Where does your time go?
Studying: lectures, reading, writing
Exercising/ relaxing
Eating/ sleeping
Working
Home/ personal time
Socialising
Travelling
The importance of managing your time
• You are an independent learner
• You have multiple commitments
• You need time to process new ideas
• You have intersecting deadlines
The enemies of time-management
Enemy no. 1: You
• Procrastination
• Perfectionism
The enemies of time-management
Procrastination
• Putting something off to do something else
• Putting effort in low priority task
• Reading emails and newsfeeds
• Seeing the task as ‘overwhelming’
The enemies of time-management
Overcoming procrastination • Identify smaller goals • Start with a pleasant task to kick-start the activity • Give rewards when goals are reached • Time yourself, but do not underestimate requirements • Ask someone to check up on you (accountability
partner) • Do one task at a time • Use the Pomodoro technique, or similar
The enemies of time-management
Perfectionism
• Trouble getting started: waiting to be in the ‘right mood’ or for the ‘right time’
• Trouble finishing: not knowing when enough is enough
The enemies of time-management
Perfectionism
• There is no ‘right’ time – get started as soon as possible; it’s easier to edit a draft than to write something perfectly
• Set clear limits before you begin; how much is enough, given time and resources?
The enemies of time-management
No. 2: Your friends and family
• Learn to say no
• Educate others regarding your space and time
The enemies of time-management
Learn to say no
• No-one will think you're a bad person if you don't always say yes
• FOMO can be intense, but only leading up to an event, rarely after
• The stress caused by overloading yourself will impact on the people around you
• Your priorities come first – stick to your plan
The enemies of time-management
Educate others regarding your space and time
• Set clear boundaries on when and where you are going to work
• Advertise these to those who may interrupt you
• They will learn to adjust, and you will relax more readily in your time off
A six-step time-management strategy
1. Establish the scope of your work
2. Divide tasks into smaller units of activity
3. Prioritise conflicting tasks
4. Arrange activities using a timetable
5. Complete tasks according to timetable
6. Review and repeat
1. Establish the scope of your work
• Make a to-do list of tasks that need to be accomplished
• Include study and personal tasks
• Make a note of the deadlines for each one
• How much time do you (realistically) need to devote to each one
2. Divide tasks into smaller units of activity
• Carve wholes tasks into smaller, 25 minute units of activity
• Bullet-point practical steps to be completed within each unit
• Review to make sure all aspects of the task are covered
3. Prioritise conflicting tasks
Quadrant A - Urgent and Important The Quadrant of Necessities - reactive approach to tasks that need to be done Quadrant B - Important but not Urgent The Quadrant of Quality - proactive approach to tasks that need to be done Quadrant C - Urgent but not Important The Quadrant of Deception - where has the time gone? Quadrant D - Neither Urgent or Important The Quadrant of Waste - can involve time wasters
List of things to do A Importance Need to do
scale 6 (unimportant)
to 10 (essential)
B Urgency Do now
scale 1 (must be done at once)
to 5 (it can wait)
C Subtract the score in column B from
column A. The higher scores in column C are
priorities.
D Order of priority
1. Submit your essay for today’s deadline
2. Start to prepare your presentation for next week
3. You require an urgent doctor’s appt.
4. Readings and notes for seminar tomorrow
5. Book holiday for next summer
List of things to do A Importance Need to do
scale 6 (unimportant)
to 10 (essential)
B Urgency Do now
scale 1 (must be done at once)
to 5 (it can wait)
C Subtract the score in column B from
column A. The higher scores in column C are
priorities.
D Order of priority
1. Submit your essay for today’s deadline
10 1 9 1
2. Start to prepare your presentation for next week
8 3 5 3
3. You require an urgent doctor’s appt.
10 1 9 1
4. Readings and notes for seminar tomorrow
9 2 7 2
5. Book holiday for next summer
6 5 1 4
4. Arrange activities using a timetable
• Arrange units into a formal timetable
• All units should fall before task deadline (or, if possible, a premature deadline)
• Assess the feasibility of these actions
5. Complete tasks according to timetable
• Work in 25 minute bursts, followed by five-minute breaks (reward yourself here!)
• After four rounds of units, take a longer break (reward again!)
• Check off bulleted goals at the end of each burst
• Save ALL other activity for the breaks
• See Pomodoro Technique guidelines
6. Review and repeat
• At the end of each block of study, review your progress
• Are you on track?
• If not, how can you reprioritise your time to accommodate?
• Can lower priority tasks be cut or deferred?
• Repeat the planning and prioritising steps, if necessary
Exams
• Implement personal revision plans
• Be active and interactive
• Use past papers
• Use other students
• Talk through your ideas and arguments
Academic Skills Gateway
http://libguides.bham.ac.uk/asg/home
